Posted on 05/16/2008 2:32:25 PM PDT by CarrotAndStick
WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) - China's military build-up opposite Taiwan is counterproductive and fans pro-independence tendencies on the island, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said on Thursday.
While stressing the United States' long-standing position that it does not support independence for Taiwan, Negroponte also told U.S. lawmakers Taiwan should be brought into international groups like the World Health Organization.
The No. 2 U.S. diplomat, who made a two-day trip to Beijing this month, also repeated the U.S. stance that it will "continue to sell Taiwan defensive arms to maintain the capacity to assist in Taiwan's defense if needed."
Negroponte's comments may irk China, which regards the self-ruled island as a renegade province that must accept reunification with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Taiwan, a democratically governed island of 23 million people, has been ruled separately from China since 1949, when Mao Zedong's Communists won a civil war on the mainland.
"We continue to express concern about the mainland's ongoing military build-up on its side of the (Taiwan) Straight," Negroponte said in written testimony submitted to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"We view China's build-up as unnecessary and counterproductive," he added. "The anxiety it breeds on Taiwan encourages pro-independence inclinations that the mainland's missile deployment purports to deter."
On Jan 1, Taiwan's outgoing President Chen Shui-bian said China had 1,328 ballistic missiles aimed at the island, up by more than a third from a previous estimate.
He said the number of short-range ballistic missiles deployed against Taiwan had increased from 200 in 2000, when he took office, and now exceeded his most recent estimate of 988.
Negroponte said China had shown "constructive leadership" on difficult issues like curbing North Korea's nuclear ambitions but criticized its efforts to isolate Taiwan diplomatically.
"Mainland efforts to squeeze Taiwan's diplomatic space also are counterproductive," he said. The United States does not advocate Taiwan joining international organizations that require sovereignty, but it should be able to "participate meaningfully" in international activities, Negroponte said.
"For example, Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization would give it access to vital health information about quickly spreading infectious diseases," he said. "That is in everyone's interests."
Satellite reveals extensive missile site in China: analyst
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C05%5C16%5Cstory_16-5-2008_pg7_61
* Imagery shows 36 launch pads arrayed in three strings
WASHINGTON: Commercial satellite imagery has revealed an extensive missile site in central China with nearly sixty launch pads for medium-range missiles capable of striking Russia or India, a researcher said on Thursday.
The images from Google Earth show different types of launch pads, command and control facilities, and missile deployment equipment at a large facility in downtown Delingha, said Hans Kristensen, a researcher with the Federation of American Scientists.
“The United States government often highlights China’s deployment of new mobile missiles as a concern but keeps the details secret, so the discovery of the deployment area provides the first opportunity for the public to better understand how China operates its mobile ballistic missiles,” he wrote.
The find comes only two weeks after the discovery of a covert Chinese nuclear submarine base on Hainan Island in South China Sea, also using commercial satellite imagery and published by Jane’s Intelligence Review. The latest images were posted along with Kristensen’s analysis on the website of the Federation of American Scientists.
Kristensen said the imagery revealed missile launch sites along a 275-kilometre stretch of highway leading from the city of Delingha through Da Qaidam to Mahai in the northern part of Qinghai province.
Arrangement: Thirty-six launch pads were arrayed in three strings extending north of the highway and west of Delingha. Another 22 launch pads were detected in an area running west of Da Qaidam to Mahai, according to Kristensen’s analysis.
“From these launch pads DF-21 missiles would be within range of southern Russia and northern India (including New Delhi), but not Japan, Taiwan or Guam,” he wrote. DF-21s are medium range solid fuel missiles that have been replacing China’s older DF-3 and DF-4 liquid fuel missiles.
Kristensen said the imagery shows what appear to be a buried command and control bunker marked by antennas at each of the deployment areas.
In downtown Delingha, images show what appear to be the headquarters of a missile brigade base with tent-like structures of identical size and design as structures previously detected on DF-21 launch pads.
An open area near the base contained what appeared to be camouflaged nets over unidentified vehicles, he said.
Counterproductive? Not if you are planning to launch an attack, dummies.
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